The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hydrangea macrophylla and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, ‘HORTMADACE’. ‘HORTMADACE’ represents a new mophead type Hydrangea, a deciduous shrub grown for use as a landscape plant, potted plant and as a cut flower.
The new cultivar was derived from a controlled breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Boskoop, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program is to develop new cultivars of Hydrangea with good cut flower qualities with unique flower colors. The objective with this new cultivar was to obtain a plant with sturdy red flowers with good color retention as they mature.
The Inventor made a cross in May 2006 between unnamed and unpatented plants in the Inventor's breeding program; reference no. 03-059-18 as the female parent and reference no. 05-001-04 as the male parent. The Inventor selected ‘HORTMADACE’, in June 2013 as a single unique plant amongst the seedlings that resulted from the above cross.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar was first accomplished by the Inventor by softwood stem cuttings in Boskoop, The Netherlands in August 2009. Asexual propagation by softwood stem cuttings has determined that the characteristics of the new cultivar are stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.